Michigan

"Monty, a dog gone dragon" makes ArtPrize top 25 public list. John Low of Grand Rapids and his daughter, Julie, 3, check out "Monty, a dog gone dragon," by John Andrews of Gainesville, Florida, on Wednesday, September 18, 2013. Monty is made of recycled metals and located on the corner of Monroe Avenue and Pearl Street.
(Emily Zoladz | Mlive.com)

I thought it would be interesting to get your take on abstract art as it is one that the art crowd tends to "go deep" with. And I couldn't resist the welded dragon (or is it a dogran?) with a dog's face, which has a big crowd around it due to it's premiere location on the corner of Pearl and Monroe.

While most of us don't have an art degree or credentials to deem us "art critics," that's exactly what we become this time of year. Click to watch the first set of videos and read what I've learned so far from asking the public to "play critic".

The first piece is called "Monty - a dog gone dragon" by John Andrews. The sculpture, welded from recycled shipping containers, plays to many different crowds. Like dragons? Like dogs? Like art that lets you touch it? You're all covered.

As expected, not too many people were very critical. (See: We're nice) But at least there was a bit of variety in the praise.

The "10 Second Art Critics" are Elizabeth Wilkinson from Grand Rapids, Laurie Mayhanagian from Grand Rapids, and Paul McAllister from Sterling Heights.

The second piece in this round of videos was a set of abstract art from Ted Barr at the DeVos Convention Center entitled "As Above So Below". The picture on the ArtPrize website doesn't match what you'll see on display. While the piece is named "As Above So Below" the artist states on the website that "in the 4 paintings I show in DeVos, I merge my main two series Deep Space and Human Forming into one unified series I call "Cycle of Life". So, unfortunately I don't have a photo for you but you can see some of the four pieces behind the critics.

ArtPrize 2013: 10 Second Art Critics 4Critics are Rebecca Kirk from East Grand Rapids, Dale DeWitt from Rapid City, SD, and Carl Krantz from Muskegon. The entry is "As Above So Below" from Ted Barr

I chose this piece because if there's one thing that can make a professional art critic sound snooty, it's abstract art.

You'll notice that an abstract piece has never won ArtPrize. I'm trying to remember if one has ever made the Top 10. So what does the random person looking at these pieces think of them? Check out the video. I particularly like Dale DeWitt's take. It's honest.

My critics were Rebecca Kirk from East Grand Rapids, DeWitt from Rapid City, SD, and Carl Krantz from Muskegon.

More videos are coming. Don't forget to jump into the conversation if you see me out and about with my iPhone this weekend. Feel free to suggest any artwork you think should be included in the comments section below.